Page 110 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL EATING IBERIA

Beyond Barcelona
BY AMY LAUGHINGHOUSE

CYCLING THROUGH CATALAN COUNTRY

ith a warm headwind whipping at
my pigtails and my legs pumping fu-
W riously upon a pair of bike pedals,
I’m ten years old again, experiencing the exhil-
arating thrill of freedom that only a set of
wheels can bestow. But instead of cycling
around the civilized suburbs as I did in those
bygone days of innocence, I’m winding
through the wilds of Southern Catalonia.
Miles of olive groves, green valleys
sculpted by terraced fields, and narrow passes
gouged from red rock canyons sweep by be-
neath a blazing blue sky. Mind adrift, I lose
myself in the Zen of forward momentum, sere-
naded by the sound of…well, nothing, save the
smooth “whoosh” of tire spokes—and, if I’m
honest, my increasingly labored breathing as I
embark on a slow uphill ascent.

Cyclists enjoy a pancake-flat path along
the beach in L’Ampolla, Catalonia.
Copyright Amy Laughinghouse.

110 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020